Family is forever

Ch. 1 The Reaping

~~~10 years ago~~~
Katniss and her father walked through the woods hunting.  So far they've only caught two squirrels.  Katniss was five years old, but despite her age, she was great with a bow and arrow.  It's been hours since they left their small house back in the steam and they were getting quite tired, so when they walked out into a small clearing in the forest they decided to take a quick break. 

While Katniss was catching her breath, her father started singing.  See her father was a great singer, no better than great he was marvelous, it was like when people heard him sing, they would all stop to listen.  It was even like that with animals.  Not a chirp could be heard throughout the forest.  All the birds stopped to listen. 

They didn't know it at the time, but the father and daughter were very close to the district two  borders, where a young boy about Katniss' age overheard the singing.  He was struck by the beauty of the voice coming from the trees out side his district.  Who could be out there?

So the boy was determined to find the source of the singer, even if it meant breaking the number one rule in Panem.  Going outside the borderline. 

He wandered to the fence keeping him from the rest of the world.  Forcing him to one place.  He saw a hole where the ground had eroded away leaving a perfect size hold to crawl underneath the fence. 

He walked into the woods.  Keeping a lookout to make sure no one saw him leave.  Then he slowly made his way forward into the unknown place.  It wasn't long until he found the pair lying in the grass singing to the birds above.  He stepped out of his hiding spot, revealing himself to them.  Katniss was up in a flash as soon as she heard the footsteps behind her.  She turned and loaded an arrow and pointed it at the boy.  After realizing that it was a person, not an animal she lowered it and muttered a sorry to him.  Her father then proceeded to ask the young boy if he wanted to join them, like it wasn't a big deal.  Katniss on the other hand opposed this idea, wary that the boy might snitch on them leaving the to let the peacekeepers decide their fate.  However she didn't tell her father this, she never argued with him.  So she just went along with it.  They started talking and they got along quite well.  At the end of the day they were basically best friends.  When the time came for the pair to leave the boy asked if she was to come tomorrow.  She said yes. 

The boy's name was Cato.

After that they went there everyday.  Sometimes talking about their life and district or they taught each other things they knew.  Cato was exceptional with a sword.  He taught her how to use one and also hand to hand combat.  She gave him a wooden bow and arrows her father made and showed him how to use it. 

One day Cato brought a girl with him.  She was his best friend from his district.  Her name was Clove.  At the time, the two girls hated each other, although they looked rather similar.  Both had the same height and body structure and dark brown almost black hair.  Same olive skin and fierce aurora.  Their faces looked a little similar but not much.  That was the only way your could tell them apart, because if you look at them from behind they look exactly the same.  Clove disliked Katniss because she came from 12.  She wasn't good at anything.  But after she saw her hunt with her bow, they started to warm up to each other.  So from then on, the two became three.  They always came unless they absolutely couldn't.  They were like family.  Katniss' father treated them like his own kids, because their parents didn't care about them.

The first time any of them missed coming was the day Mr. Everdeen died.

The day after she told them and they all shed tears. Tears for their father.